When Jerry Hill Gets Ticked Off, You Might Get a New Law

Sen. Jerry Hill slowed his black Tesla to a stop at the intersection of Glenview Drive and Earl Avenue.

He pointed to the sidewalk in front of a dirt lot.

“Thirty-eight homes destroyed,” Hill said. “Eight people died.”

Two years into his first term in the Assembly, a PG&E pipeline burst and ignited a fireball that blazed through this residential neighborhood in Hill’s district. The names of the victims sit in a frame on his desk in the Capitol.

Investigations blamed PG&E and the California Public Utilities Commission for the disaster. The polite and seemingly mild-mannered San Mateo Democrat became angry and inspired.

“You get mad and you want to make change,” said Hill, 70. “I found that’s what motivates me.”